Students looking for experiences beyond the academic can find plenty of opportunities right on campus.
At the University of Calgary, Kat Lord has gone from taking part in extra-curricular activities to actively getting other students involved in them, part of her duties as the vice-president events for the students’ union.
“This just seemed like another place where I could do some good,” says Lord, whose campus activities have included heading the school’s feminist association and deejaying for campus radio.
“I really wanted to bring programming to campus that was diverse and that reached a variety of populations on campus.”
Lord organizes both weekly events — for example, Wednesdays feature free, instructed yoga classes — and monthly themes. October is Wellness Month, and the programming includes a Heart and Stroke Foundation fundraiser, alcohol awareness day and health fair.
But school-wide events aren’t the only source of outside-the-classroom action to be found on campus.
There are more than 40 course unions at Ryerson University, where all full-time undergraduate students are automatically a member of their program’s respective course union.
The Computer Science Course Union (CSCU) brings its members together with both professionally related and social activities. These sorts of events “let you get to know the people in your program, especially for first-years,” says Robert Mazzatto, the CSCU’s vice-president communications.
Clubs are another way for students to make the most of their time at school. Ryerson’s Urban Hip Hop Union (UHHU) aims to promote hip-hop culture in Toronto through activities ranging from panel discussions to dance workshops.
The students’ union recently named UHHU the Student Group of the Year, an honour UHHU co-president Shakera Martin attributes in part to the group’s inclusive philosophy.
“The thing about UHHU that I love personally is it’s a diverse group of students,” she says.
Taking part in extra-curricular activities has important implications for a student’s emotional well-being and, in turn, their academic success, says Carole Sénéchal, a professor of psychology and education at the University of Ottawa.
“You feel like you’re part of a family (and that) you have a place in society but also a place in university,” she says.
Recognizing the importance of these kinds of experiences, the University of Calgary became the first university in Western Canada to establish a Co-Curricular Record, which recognizes a student’s extra-curricular activities while in school. It can give students an extra edge when they apply for a master’s degree or look for a job, says Lord.
“It’s just another incentive to go out there and get involved with your community,” she says.
